There's nothing more helpful than a weekend announcement about grants being made available for businesses, with no further detail provided:
"A £5bn scheme for High Street shops and hospitality firms in England has been unveiled, with Rishi Sunak promising more support to come for the economy.
Ahead of Wednesday's Budget, the chancellor said the grants, worth as much as £18,000 per firm, will help them reopen as England eases lockdown.
Nearly 700,000 shops, restaurants, hotels, hair salons, gyms and other businesses in England, will be eligible for the so-called "restart grants", to be distributed directly to firms by local authorities from April. It will replace the current monthly grant system."
Based on previous experience, there will be a delay between the announcement being made, and the details of which businesses will be eligible, how much they can claim, and how they should apply is shared with the local authorities tasked with managing distribution. Indications from the Chancellor's comments are that the "Restart" grant will replace the existing grants structure, and will be distributed from April. I'm sure more information will be made available following the Budget.
As Local Authorities are going to be the first with the information at a local level, we really do recommend keeping a close eye on the ADC web page for business support:
A reminder of really useful newsletters and updates to sign up for:
ADC's Arun Businesses Partnership: email business@arun.gov.uk and ask for your details to be added.
You can also sign up to receive emails about business related information directly from Gov.uk:
BR BID AGM
A reminder that the BID's postponed AGM covering details of the Financial Year 1st April 2019- 31st March 2020 will take place via Zoom on Thursday 11th March, starting at 5.45pm. You must be a Member of the BID Company in order to attend (this is different to being a BID Levy Payer). Please email heather@brbid.org if you would like to become a Member.
The BID Board currently has opportunities for voluntary Directors. If you are an owner of representative of a business within the BID Area and are interested in becoming a Director, you'll find details of the role and how to apply on our website: https://www.brbid.org/recruitment
The AGM next Thursday is to meet statutory responsibilities, and will therefore focus on the key requirements of presenting and approving accounts for that period, as well as the constitution of eth Board of Directors. There is not going to be an informal element, nor will there be a Q&A session relating to anything but the 2019-2020 financial year. However, we will be extending invitation to a more informal meeting, open to all BID businesses in the near future. The intention is that the AGM for Year 3's operations (2021-21 financial year) will be held in the last few months of this calendar year, subject, of course, to completion of the financial audit, the unfurling world of Covid restrictions, an unexpected plague of frogs or potential zombie apocalypse.
Contacting the BID:
In accordance with the lockdown rules, Clair and I are both working from home, and only coming into town if it's absolutely essential. That does include dealing with Parking Disc collections, so if you need more discs, please order in the usual way, and we will contact you to make arrangements to meet at the BID Office to collect.
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